Substrate wafers of monocrystalline silicon are used in the manufacture of solar cells. Monocrystalline solar cells produced therefrom are more efficient and have more long-term stability as compared to non-crystalline solar cells. However, monocrystalline solar cells are expensive to manufacture since they require using monocrystalline silicon.
An ideal thickness of a solar cell of monocrystalline silicon is approximately 0.06 mm. Substrate wafers from which solar cells are manufactured can be cut to a minimum thickness of about 0.3 mm. As a result, these manufactured solar cells are several times thicker than required for the functioning of the solar cell. Furthermore, the excess monocrystalline silicon material leads to an increase in the resistance and thus deteriorates the properties of the solar cell. See, for example, Phys. Bl., Vol. 47 (1991) pages 1067-1075.